Voting strictly along party lines, Lehigh County commissioners approved a 2015 budget Wednesday that cuts taxes by $1.25 million.

Commissioners criss-crossed party lines in a marathon meeting two weeks ago, when they approved 17 amendments cutting spending, but seven Republicans unanimously approved the final product Wednesday, while the board's two Democrats voted against it.

Executive Tom Muller would not say whether he planned to issue any vetoes.

Freshman Commissioner Geoff Brace, a Democrat, said after the meeting that he was disappointed he wasn't able to vote for his first budget, but ultimately he couldn't agree to the final amendment, a tax cut he said would be harmful while the county is still facing a structural deficit.

"If we would not have voted on the millage rate, I would have had a yes vote," he said.

Republican Percy Dougherty, who voted for the budget, said it wasn't perfect, but there was "more good than bad." He's pleased the board cut spending, but would rather pay down debts than give back money, he said.

"It's not a balanced budget," he said. "We're not there yet. And by giving the tax decrease we're actually increasing the potential for taxes to go up next year or years after."

Muller has made similar arguments opposing commissioners' tax decrease, which they pushed through 6-3 after midnight in a meeting two weeks ago, and after talk of cutting deficits turned to talk of cutting taxes.

His budget, as proposed, didn't raise taxes but did include a $5.5 million deficit. Under that plan, the county would take in about $105.5 million in property taxes and spend $111 million in property taxes, which make up just a portion of the overall budget.

The gap was filled with money from the county's reserve fund.

Republicans sponsored amendments taking turns at reducing the deficit and the amount of reserves needed to balance the budget. Some reduced spending, while others found other pockets of reserves within county coffers.

And of the $3.8 million in amendments, about $1.37 million were spending cuts that will pay for the $1.25 million tax cut and reduce the 2015 budget deficit. But if they're not ongoing cuts and only affect the 2015 budget, they may actually worsen the structural deficit.

Other amendments affected the other side of the ledger, as commissioners swapped funding sources but didn't eliminate spending.

"What we just witnessed here was really a memorial service for common sense," Muller said after Wednesday's vote, accusing the board of worsening the deficit while stealing from county employees.

"What they did was they bought a happy meal, but with money they took right off the employees' tables," he said of changes to nonunion employee pay, including amendments that eliminate bonuses for longtime workers and caps raises.

Commissioners offset those changes with an incentive program that rewards workers for finding ways to cut spending.

The executive criticized them for setting personnel policy through the budget. The changes to pay were opposed by many department heads, who said they disproportionately harm nonunion employees and would encourage them to organize.

He could also aim his veto pen at an amendment that uses excess bond revenue — money Muller planned to use to fund upgrades at Cedarbrook nursing home — to go toward paying off the bond.

Muller could veto the entire budget or just pieces. He could also follow the lead of former Executive Bill Hansell who, with Muller as his director of administration, used his broad veto powers to revise the 2013 budget.

Hansell replaced a Republican-backed $5 million tax cut with a smaller one. In that case, Hansell had the backing of four commissioners, enough to beat a veto override.

Chairwoman Lisa Scheller said Wednesday's vote represented strong support from the board. Every amendment that passed did so with a supermajority, and 10 passed unanimously.